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Digend
Digend is Hireath's god of chaos. Digend is the youngest god of Hireath, recently brought into existence by centuries of scattered worship. Digend has the ability to corrupt the blessings of other gods. A sadistic Cult of Digend sows chaos through Hireath in the name of this poorly-understood god. Manifestation Following the devastation of the God's War, the people of Hireath were desperate, and left without the gods who had sheltered them in the world's early years. Some chose to send prayers into the void, to seek aid from wherever they could get it; those prayers began to form an entity in the heart of Hireath, one who could receive their worries, and send them little more than good fortune. Digend spent hundreds of years hearing the cries for help sent by those that the other gods had abandoned, and grew furious. Using her cult of devoted followers, one Ascendant at a time, she spread her influence across the world -- the more chaos that spread, the more people who would say her name. The more who evoked her, the stronger she became. Years of planning culminated in late 1700, when Digend was able to manifest into a chaotic, rudimentary form. In the Pit, a cave in central Sirith, she came into existence. Her new body was an amalgamation of ideas, with a featureless face and a colorless foal's body -- an incomplete creation, a half-formed idea. It was strange, and unfinished, but it would have to do. Then, in spring 1701, she changed yet again, her body taller and sparkled with color. Now far more complete, she is ready to leave the Pit. In order to protect the desperate world that had created her, she plans to live among the people who called her into creation, and to challenge the gods that had abandoned them. Mythology Though the truth of Digend is mostly a mystery, modern day Cultists revere Digend as a bloodthirsty god who was brought into existence by the global destruction of The God's War. In what little art or tales that exist of this version of Digend, she is depicted as a stallion who is violent and cruel, celebrating discord and demanding bloody sacrifices from his followers. It is said by Cultists that every creature killed in cold blood will spend eternity with Digend, joining an army of spirits who cause unrest under the chaotic god's command. Cultist visuals of Digend vary widely, and there are as many interpretations of the Cult's god as there are artists to depict him. Worship of this idea of Digend began relatively recently, and his followers are not unified in support of any one visual representation. He is often shown as a common horse with a dark coat, sometimes with fiery elements, skeletal features, or spine-like protrusions. Devoted cultists would say that his many faces are yet another symbol of his unpredictable, changing nature rather than his dubious existence. Some represent Digend simply with a skull wearing an upside-down crown-- a symbol that not even kings will be safe from the mayhem of Digend's calamitous arrival. The Summoning Circle During the Wordsmith Gathering of 1701, in front of a crowd of hundreds of gathered Vagabonds, a group of Hedgewitches attempted to summon Digend. To their possible surprise, Digend's energy manifested there in the form of a storm, and the forest around them was turned to bone. Digend shared a vision with the gathered Vagabonds, showing her "birth", and how she had been created by the first Vagabonds that had been stranded by the God's War. She made a promise to the gathered Vagabonds: she would not abandon them like the other gods had, and would protect anyone who told her story. Word has since begun to spread around the world of this new god. Read the thread here. Worship Recognition of Digend began after the God's War, limited to a small but devoted group of worshipers who called themselves the Cult of Digend. Displaced by the God's War and having lost faith in the deities that had led them to ruin, this disillusioned group began to believe that chaos was the only sure thing in this life. Over time, they created Digend, a being born of change who would grow more powerful as the world became more chaotic, and who would protect the Cultists from the certain oblivion that following the other gods would bring. Inside the Cult of Digend What began as a lack of trust in the traditional Hireath gods became something more insidious through the years. Celebration of chaos turned slowly into causing chaos; if they could control the madness of the world, they believed they would be unharmed by it. Soon, worship of Digend became synonymous with anarchy, the breaking of laws and the destruction of order. Cultists became fearless in the knowledge that their violent acts would strengthen their god, and that they would be welcomed in death to his eternal army. Although the first Cultists simply found solace in embracing chaos, modern-day Cultists are absolutely devoted to their version of the god. There are few things a dedicated Cultist would not do to cause harm in Digend's name; murder, arson, even entire battles have been waged to feed Digend's supposed hunger for disaster. Most places in Hireath have had no direct contact with Cultists; to most, the Cult's idea of Digend is a strange historical footnote or, more often, a tasteless joke. Members of isolated herds (like Breim and Talori) are unlikely to have heard of this relatively obscure mythological figure at all. None of Hireath's main herds acknowledge Digend as a legitimate deity. Outside the Cult In some cases, the tradition of Digend worship has been passed down through isolated families. Usually, these scattered believers veer towards the older tradition of Digend, and see her as an avatar for change, evolution, and the unpredictable nature of the universe. She is often viewed less as a proper god and more like a personification of luck and random chance, or even a guardian against misfortune. There is no structured worship of Digend outside of the cult, merely folk tradition paying him homage in the form of good luck charms or small tokens bearing her imagined likeness. Modern Day Worship Now that she has manifested on Hireath, Digend strives to provide an "alternative" to the elemental gods who created the earth. She is actively seeking those who feel let down by the gods of Hireath, so that she may lead and welcome them into a future that doesn't include them. Shrines Due to the nomadic nature of Digend's only worshipers, there are no permanent shrines or temples to Digend anywhere in Hireath. However, there are rumors of a Lost Shrine in an unmarked tunnel in Nariah that has a dark energy... Particularly pious Cultists are known to create temporary makeshift "shrines" out of the resting places of their victims, but these function more as markers of their blood sacrifices to Digend than as places of prayer. Many cultists construct prayer idols, often from bones and leather, to carry with them on their travels. The Pit Your character may visit the Pit where Digend lives. Write a 500 word piece or draw at least a headshot with partial background of your character's visit to the Pit, and depict them tossing something in. An offering to Digend may be a physical object, or even merely a prayer, but will result in a response from the young god. Simply note your uploaded piece to the group with the subject "Visiting the Pit", and a reply will be commented on the piece itself. (Note: this is not an entire RP. Your character will receive only one reply.) The pit was discovered in Chapter 5 by a group of wanderers. Category:Gods __NOEDITSECTION__